Dedicated to the Education, Development, and Service of undergraduate & graduate students in their quest to become Fearless Champions in the Kinesiology & Sport Industry.
The Review is hosted by the Kinesiology Department at Tarleton State University (Stephenville, Texas).

Friday, February 1, 2013

Hudl and the Evolution of Recruiting

For most coaches, recruiting is a crucial component for the future success of a program. In the past, pursuing potential student-athletes was costly and time-consuming often requiring a coach to be on the road instead of being engaged with the current student-athletes on the roster.However, with the expanding use of technology, times have changed. In the new era of recruiting, Hudl (founded 2006) has revolutionized the way college coaches recruit potential student-athletes.

Hudl is a web-based social media site that is used for video sharing, editing and various forms of scouting. With the modernization of web-based information, the founders of Hudl have made recruiting on the college level unproblematic.In the past, obtaining the information on a potential athlete required the players to mail highlight tapes and academic information (transcripts and test scores) to a multitude of colleges in hopes of obtaining a scholarship. Coaches were inundated with unsolicited mailings which created an inefficient recruiting process.With Hudl, high school and junior college athletes can create their own profile on their schools Hudl website which includes highlight clips, physical information (size, strength, speed) and academic information (class rank, gpa, test scores). All of a potential recruits’ information is readily available online which streamlines the recruiting process. The simplicity and effectiveness of Hudl has taken the recruiting process to a new level. High School coaches no longer have to make DVD highlights and mail them out to hundreds of colleges.And college coaches save time in recruiting by viewing individual school rosters and evaluating highlights of the top players that are known and unknown potential college athletes (Example:http://tinyurl.com/azy7na6) . Hudl saves coaches time and money.

As a certified collegiate football recruiter, I can attest to the significance of Hudl on the coaching profession and the recruiting process.